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Re: YAEPT: "year" (sorry!) (was Re: Why "y" ain't arbitrary (was: I...

From:Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...>
Date:Monday, February 7, 2005, 4:47
--- Doug Dee <AmateurLinguist@...> wrote:

> In a message dated 2/6/2005 7:46:11 PM Eastern > Standard Time, > fiziwig@YAHOO.COM writes: > >I don't even begin to understand why 'y' would be > >classed as anything but a vowel. > > Which do you say: > > "a year" or "an year"? > "a ear" or "an ear"? > > If, like every English-speaker I've ever met, you > say "a year", not "an > year", then that is evidence that in your > phonological system the "y" sound at the > start of "year" is a consonant. (Because the > general rule is "an" before > vowels and "a" before consonants.) >
That was an historic event. Aha! 'H' is a vowel! I always wondered about that. ;-)

Replies

Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>
Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...>
Stephen Mulraney <ataltanie@...>